The Calto Mills

A water mill is a system formed by two independent entities: the mill complex and the water. Their union leads to a higher productivity level, which is dependent on the efficiency of the milling machinery, the position of the milling plant and the water flow rate.

The first Vitruvian mills were located in places with an abundance of running water where this was striking the bottom of a paddle wheel immersed in the water. Later improvements occurred when the water was forced to strike with its weight a greater number of paddles through a slanted channel that overshot by one-sixth the perimeter of a big wheel. With this mixed “strike-weight” system the mill required a smaller amount of water and could also be built away from natural water features. All that was needed was to make a canal flow to the point where there could be a small “waterfall”.

Of all the Berici valleys equipped with a water mill, Calto is undoubtedly the most beautiful from a scenery point of view. In this place you can still enjoy the atmosphere of an untouched place intimately linked to the use of water through the centuries.